Chapter 516: Unexpected Harvest
Joseph motioned for Goldsmid to sit down, asking expectantly, "Have the matters I entrusted to you yielded any results?"
He had previously met this British banker through Gensonné's introduction—a greedy and cunning speculator who was also a senior member of the General Assembly of Tax Farmers.
Therefore, Joseph had offered him generous benefits to act as an insider and collect evidence of illegal activities by the prominent Tax Farmers.
Now, with Goldsmid claiming to have "good news," it was highly probable he had uncovered something significant.
Goldsmid merely shrugged.
"Your Highness," he began, "you know those fellows are incredibly cunning. I haven't been able to find any concrete evidence of their illegal activities."
Joseph frowned instantly. Just as he was about to speak, the Englishman's face broke into a triumphant smile.
"So, left with no choice, I had to find a way to induce them to commit crimes. And I was quite lucky; they readily accepted my suggestions."
Joseph was somewhat surprised. "Oh? What exactly did you have them do?"
"Please, speak your mind."
"I have a few friends who wish to hold positions in the Ministry of Finance. I hope Your Highness can arrange some positions for them."
Joseph's face immediately turned cold.
As expected, these financial magnates would seize any opportunity to extend their tentacles into the nation's financial core, thereby gradually gaining control of the entire financial system.
However, Joseph was not one of those easily manipulated politicians. It wasn't yet the 19th century, and the methods by which financial syndicates exerted control over nations were not yet mature. The remarkable maneuvers of the Rothschild family would not be fully implemented for another two decades. But for him, these were historical facts he had read countless times.
Therefore, Joseph could see through Goldsmid's intentions immediately.
"I'm afraid that's impossible," he flatly refused. "France's finances must remain under the absolute control of the government."
He had made his stance perfectly clear: 'I know you want to infiltrate the financial system, but don't even dream of it.'
Joseph continued, "However, I can offer you benefits in other areas. For instance, your bank could expand its operations into France, or I could introduce you to some excellent investment projects. Oh, a friend of mine in Britain recently mentioned a promising venture."
According to their previous agreement, Goldsmid was to help collect damaging information on the Tax Farmers in exchange for managing funds for the Atlantic Insurance Company. This meant that when Britons purchased insurance, the money would first be deposited into his bank before being transferred to France.
Atlantic Insurance sold over 500,000 Pound Sterling in policies annually, which amounted to over 12 million Francs. Simply routing these funds through Goldsmid's bank could net him hundreds of thousands of Francs in profit, while also boosting his bank's reputation.
Therefore, Goldsmid had readily agreed to the cooperation.
He had viewed the Crown Prince as quite young and seemingly easy to deceive, so he had intended to test the waters, only to be immediately rebuffed.
He could only nod with an awkward laugh. "Thank you, Your Highness, for your generosity. I hope for more cooperation between us in the future."
Joseph remained noncommittal, asking, "Can you now tell me what you did within the General Assembly of Tax Farmers?"
"Oh, yes, Your Highness," Goldsmid replied. "I advised them to hide all the tax documents and to hand over fake documents when transferring responsibilities to the government's Tax Bureau.
"They intend to use these documents as leverage to continue managing some of the more profitable tax categories."
Hearing this, Joseph narrowed his eyes. Without the authentic tax documents, if the Tax Bureau began collecting taxes, it would likely descend into chaos very quickly.
Among other things, the mere absence of records for outstanding taxes and prepaid taxes would be enough to cause arguments between taxpayers and tax officials.
Furthermore, tax assessments for properties like land and factories would all have to be reevaluated. Market taxes, which were collected based on experience, would be a complete mess. This tax was generally a fixed amount collected based on the size of one's stall, and new tax officials would undoubtedly get into repeated disputes with vendors.
It had to be said, this method was truly malicious. If the Tax Bureau were caught off guard by such a move, it would undoubtedly be thrown into complete disarray.
However, Joseph was not without countermeasures. For instance, his immediate thought was: 'The documents are gone, but the people remain.'
Who was most familiar with these tax documents? It was undoubtedly the "tax collectors" actually responsible for collecting taxes, employed by the Tax Farmers.
If, at that time, the Tax Bureau discovered that the documents they received were seriously flawed, making normal tax collection impossible, then he could fully justify arresting thousands of tax collectors under the charge of "participating in tax fraud."
These people were living tax records. Imprison them at night, shackle them during the day, and send them with government tax officials to collect taxes, granting five days off their sentence for every problem they resolved. Within half a month, they could have the nation's tax collection running smoothly.
Of course, now that Joseph knew about the General Assembly of Tax Farmers swapping the tax documents, the initiative was entirely his.
Now, he only needed to figure out how to secure the evidence and use it to create the most favorable situation for the Tax System Reform.
Joseph looked back at Goldsmid. "Do you know where the tax documents are being kept?"
"Yes, Your Highness." The latter nodded triumphantly. "As the one who proposed this plan, I oversaw many aspects of it. The documents should all be in Viscount Fould's villas in Antoine Town."
"Excellent," Joseph instructed. "You go back first and pretend as if nothing has happened. Once you confirm all the documents have been centralized, notify me immediately."
"Yes, Your Highness."
...
Five days later.
A large contingent of Paris Police swarmed into Antoine Town, and under the astonished gazes of the townspeople, surrounded all properties belonging to Fould and his family.
Subsequently, the Intelligence Bureau began searching the premises.
Given the clear objective, it didn't take long before a large number of tax documents were uncovered, filling over ten carriages.
After the tax documents were sent to the French General Tax Bureau, the Paris Supreme Court immediately issued hundreds of arrest warrants, which had clearly been prepared in advance, awaiting only the official seal.
Subsequently, Intelligence Bureau agents across the country, with the cooperation of the police, arrested almost all the managers of the Tax Farmers' offices on charges of "forging tax documents."
The so-called Tax Farmers' offices were tax institutions established by the Tax Farmers themselves, performing functions similar to the government's Tax Bureau. Most Tax Farmers did not serve as managers of these offices; they were the financiers, effectively the chairmen of these Tax Farmers' offices, while the actual tax collection was carried out by a large number of "tax collectors" employed by them.
Comments